Port Vale and Trinidad and Tobago international, Chris Birchall, has declared that playing against England will be the “biggest day of my life” as he looks forward to playing the country of his birth on 15th June 2006.

Chris qualifies for the Socawarriors through his mother who was born in Port of Spain. Nineteen caps later his international career has taken off, and Birchall has become a key player in Leo Beenhakker’s side, helping Trinidad to secure a World Cup place by scoring a vital long-range strike against Bahrain, and his team will now face England in Germany on 15th June.

Leading up to the crucial game, Birchall commented: “I am very proud to be part of the Trinidad and Tobago squad. As I grew up in Stafford, playing against England would be the biggest day of my life. If selected, I’ll get the chance to face some of the world’s best players – who are also my heroes – like Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham.”

Chris Birchall says he is “proud to be part of the Trinidad and Tobago squad”

Speaking through his blog on 4thegame.com Chris clarified: “I’ve been quoted in some newspapers as saying that if I score against England I won’t celebrate. What I meant by that is that I won’t go over-the-top. I can’t say I’m definitely not going to celebrate – you don’t know what you’ll do if it happens and obviously if I score I will celebrate somehow – but I was saying that I won’t disrespect the country that I’ve grown up in and supported all my life.”

Rob Fielding, founder of the Port Vale website www.onevalefan.co.uk added: “Port Vale supporters are thrilled to see one of their players at the World Cup Finals, especially a local lad who has been with the club since the age of 11 and progressed through our youth ranks into the first team. Chris is doing a fantastic job to promote the name of Port Vale around the world. We wish him all the very best for the rest of the campaign – although there may be some divided loyalties when The Socawarriors take on England. The ideal scenario would be for Chris to score a screamer but England to win the game.”

Chris Birchall was the 2005 Young Player of the Year at Port Vale and was recently named in The FourFourTwo Top 50 Football League players list. He will step out against England and his self confessed hero Steven Gerrard wearing Joma’s Numero 10 boots, after recently signing a two year boot deal with Spanish sportswear manufacturer Joma.

The Joma Numero 10 boots Birchall will wear in Germany feature a distinctive yin-yang design. The Numero 10 model and Joma’s new Canibal Pulsar model will be the flagship boots worn by all Joma players, such as Antonio Lopez (Spain), Ricardinho (Brazil) and Paulo Wanchope (Costa Rica), during this summer’s World Cup.

Birchall joins a host of other high profile players in the UK who have chosen to wear Joma boots, including Tottenham defender Noureddine Naybet, Bryan Hughes of Charlton Athletic, Sunderland’s Rory Delap, and Inigo Idiakez of Derby County.